Many structures are built using concrete, including, for instance, buildings, parking structures, apartments, condominiums, hotels, mixed-use structures, casinos, hospitals, medical buildings, government buildings, research/academic institutions, industrial buildings, malls, roads, bridges, pavement, tanks, reservoirs, silos, sports courts, and other structures.
Prestressed concrete is structural concrete in which internal stresses are introduced to reduce potential tensile stresses in the concrete resulting from applied loads; prestressing may be accomplished by post-tensioned prestressing or pre-tensioned prestressing. In post-tensioned prestressing, a tension member is tensioned after the concrete has attained a specified strength by use of a post-tensioning tendon. Traditionally, a tension member is constructed of a suitable material exhibiting tensile strength which can be elongated including, for example, reinforcing steel, single or multi-strand cable. Typically, the tension member may be formed from a metal or composite material.